ECCo Launches Contemporary Urban Collections Project

ECCo hosted a roundtable of area university faculty and museum professionals to launch a collaboration to build a new collection of urban culture under the auspices of the Anthropology Department. The collection will focus on documenting and analyzing the ways in which urban residents interact with and shape their environment. An understanding of how urban cultural diversity shapes our relationship with the environment helps guide our efforts to create a more sustainable region. The Field Museum currently has few collections of contemporary urban life, creating a gap in knowledge necessary for future museum-based science and action efforts. Students and faculty from local universities and staff in partner museums (including members of the Chicago Cultural Alliance) will participate in building the urban collection, establishing a new model for museum collection work.